tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77444276077936154462014-10-05T02:34:46.495-04:00HamletmachineA Blog for the Brown University Production of <em>Hamletmachine</em> by Heiner Müller in a new translation by Katrin Dettmer and José Enrique MaciánJ.E. Maciánhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11729984248822802103noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7744427607793615446.post-72513396861840482332008-12-15T06:14:00.006-05:002008-12-19T07:08:14.828-05:00Theatre as a desiring machine?: Hamletmachine Review for Communications from the International Brecht Society<p align="justify">The choice of this piece for Brown Theatre’s student production suggested that it would be <em>different from the usual</em> in the context of student-run theatre. And it was different in both its anti-naturalistic concept and its artistic quality. </p><p align="justify">The stage: concrete-like panels, interlinked with metal struts dominated the scenery. In the center stood a statue of industrial pipes from which the actors repeatedly pulled props. The pipes made allusion to Deleuze / Guattari’s non-communicating pipes but also illustrated the machine-like character of the performance; the audience was going to be part of this simultaneous machine of acting, video, music, voiceover, and text. Heiner Müller once wrote: “The myth is an aggregate, a machine, to which always new and different machines can be connected.” Accordingly, the director José Macián connected an astonishingly broad variety of artistic material to the original text: excerpts from different texts by Müller, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, quotations by Brecht, Beckett, [Erica] Jong, Marx, as well as references to classical and pop music. Moreover, Macián utilized paintings, transforming them into <em>tableaux vivants</em> for a theatrical medium. These connections were defined by Macián’s association, which were guided by similarities of words and contexts. Appropriately the director’s (co-author’s) image was on the back of the author’s photograph which was torn apart at the end. As the play began, two claves were struck by the director - who was located in the audience area - thus signaling what would be a systematic part of the performance: the director was integrated in the play. Even from the start, it was understood that the fourth wall between stage and spectators would be destroyed. Later, one actor walked along the front row, touching the faces of the spectators. Then, dramaturge Katrin Dettmer, left her own place in the audience in order to mount the stage as a dead philosopher throwing books at Hamlet. Finally, the actors introduced themselves to several spectators with their real names.</p><p align="justify">The piece is known for its dissolution of the concept of identity. This was realized in the Brown production by having three actors play the respective Hamlet and Ophelia parts, as well as having each actor appear later as a different modern-day person. Consequently, there were no consistent characters. Of the numerous Hamlets there was Max Posner who represented, among others, Müller and Macián (Thus the director was aware of being a privileged instance of the system, as well as the Danish prince and Müller himself in his own understanding). Sam Yambrovich, the Hamlet who wore a suit and later a tailcoat, re-appeared as a background narrator while in his underwear. Evan W. Smith, who wore a more historical costume portrayed a traditional naturalistic Hamlet, in the end speaking as Charles Manson. Alongside these Hamlets were the Ophelias, all temporarily acting as specters tensely crossing the scene. In the “Scherzo,” Tamara Del Rosso, who previously represented Rosa Luxemburg, performed a version of Ophelia’s striptease as Britney Spears in a red latex suit singing “Oops! I Did It Again”. This was controversial because according to Müller, Ophelia is a victim who revolts. But does this apply to the fallen pop diva? In order to incorporate this context, Hollis Mickey orgiastically reported some terrorist attacks by the Red Army Faction (and uncannily resembled the RAF Terrorist Gudrun Enslin). Finally, Charly E. Simpson performed as an African American Marilyn Monroe and as the Madonna. Without exception the performance of all actors in this extraordinary physical and mentally challenging staging was highly convincing.</p><p align="justify">In preparing to stage <em>Hamletmachine</em>, Macián and Dettmer decided to write a new translation of the text. They managed to avoid the dated and partially imprecise language of the existing translations by Carl Weber and Marc von Henning, and at the same time, amazingly succeeded in keeping the rhythm of Müller’s text. In contrast to older performances of <em>Hamletmachine</em>, the actors in the Brown production did not recite the text mechanically. However, several lines and paragraphs were spoken repetitiously – sometimes by one actor, sometimes alternating with another actor. Occasionally the voices swelled up to a chorus-like mosaic. In general the text was presented in various ways. It was rendered in newscast-style, babbled unemotionally, or sung. There were also moments of outrage, discomposure, and agitation, which eventually were undermined by the aforementioned dissolution of identity.</p><p align="justify">The whole staging seemed to be a mechanical process, irregularly structured by a bell and a flash, which stopped when the Ophelias placed their fingers under their eyes. At this moment, Brecht’s sentence “Don’t stare so romantically,” was revealed on the wall. The <em>Hamletmachine</em> stutters and some scenes reboot several times. Therefore the performance only roughly followed the original text order. Moreover, it was characterized by disillusion and irony. For example, when Horatio/Polonius played by Posner stated that he had been slain, he spoke it in a totally relaxed fashion while puffing his cigarette. Then an actor addressed the director and audience, saying that it was his voice they were about to hear on tape. Finally, one of the Hamlets said: “This play is ridiculous.”</p><p align="justify">But there was a crack in this staging. On the one hand, the machine-like, playful postmodern character lead into a destruction of the provocative qualities of the piece. On the other hand, it still referred to the outside world and did not waive a moral claim: “The main point is to overthrow all existing conditions, where humans are suppressed, abandoned, humiliated, contemptuous.” (Marx) In contrast to Müller’s text, Macián makes his Ophelias quote the complete phrase by Marx. He took this sentence seriously. After all, there was an oscillation between intensity and meaning in this performance.</p><p align="justify">In addition, Macián simultaneously destroyed and kept the dualism of sex. Both females and males, besides their own parts, performed lines and paragraphs of the different sexes. So the Hamlets speak “The woman’s Europe” first. Hence the sexes were adjusted which relativized a strong feminist position. Although relativized, it nevertheless did not destroy the power of the female roles. After a last flash and a moment of darkness, there was the motionless group of women, butcher knives in hand pointing at the audience. Before that, with a raised knife, they were presenting their wrists – still in the Ophelia paradigm. Consequently, there was a switch from self-destruction to revolutionary aggression addressing the audience. On a different level, the director’s voiceover addressed the spectator quoting Brecht: ”Let go all hope…” Furthermore, the audience’s leaving the theatre was anticipated and thereby integrated into the performance. Finally, confronted with the picture and text of the pitiless end, once again the spectator was forced to come to an understanding of this sophisticated 90-minute staging, in which theatre and society machines are reciprocally part of each other.</p><p align="justify">- Alfred Stumm (Universität Tübingen)</p>J.E. Maciánhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11729984248822802103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7744427607793615446.post-45236915427156133212008-06-03T15:46:00.003-04:002008-12-10T23:13:50.321-05:00Photographs from Tech. Week (1 of 5)<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWgfsiadmI/AAAAAAAAAVk/NZNtfdzax7Y/s1600-h/n1006066_32851680_5888.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207745010515736162" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWgfsiadmI/AAAAAAAAAVk/NZNtfdzax7Y/s400/n1006066_32851680_5888.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWgf3ayo7I/AAAAAAAAAVs/-L77A8KoqhY/s1600-h/n1006066_32851681_6195.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207745013436556210" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWgf3ayo7I/AAAAAAAAAVs/-L77A8KoqhY/s400/n1006066_32851681_6195.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWggL6rclI/AAAAAAAAAV0/KBVq7nKg-DU/s1600-h/n1006066_32851682_6503.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207745018939011666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWggL6rclI/AAAAAAAAAV0/KBVq7nKg-DU/s400/n1006066_32851682_6503.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWggWrTZ8I/AAAAAAAAAV8/ZOLsU3aARMY/s1600-h/n1006066_32851683_6810.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207745021827311554" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWggWrTZ8I/AAAAAAAAAV8/ZOLsU3aARMY/s400/n1006066_32851683_6810.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWggrMLVGI/AAAAAAAAAWE/LkQJQKSIv9I/s1600-h/n1006066_32851684_7125.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207745027333903458" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWggrMLVGI/AAAAAAAAAWE/LkQJQKSIv9I/s400/n1006066_32851684_7125.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="right"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWgDdFT_tI/AAAAAAAAAU8/eUy5NPXQk_s/s1600-h/n1006066_32851670_2869.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207744525330808530" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWgDdFT_tI/AAAAAAAAAU8/eUy5NPXQk_s/s400/n1006066_32851670_2869.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWgEF1bryI/AAAAAAAAAVE/mtwBLKyGdBg/s1600-h/n1006066_32851685_7437.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207744536270057250" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWgEF1bryI/AAAAAAAAAVE/mtwBLKyGdBg/s400/n1006066_32851685_7437.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWgER63I_I/AAAAAAAAAVM/T9PhlALD4tY/s1600-h/n1006066_32851686_7756.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207744539514053618" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWgER63I_I/AAAAAAAAAVM/T9PhlALD4tY/s400/n1006066_32851686_7756.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWgEsOwXnI/AAAAAAAAAVU/JyjaHV4L2nQ/s1600-h/n1006066_32851687_8078.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207744546576817778" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWgEsOwXnI/AAAAAAAAAVU/JyjaHV4L2nQ/s400/n1006066_32851687_8078.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWgFP5nVZI/AAAAAAAAAVc/IWPj4HP3Yus/s1600-h/n1006066_32851688_8399.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207744556151821714" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWgFP5nVZI/AAAAAAAAAVc/IWPj4HP3Yus/s400/n1006066_32851688_8399.jpg" border="0" /></a> Photographs by Alana Jacoby (lighting designer)</div>J.E. Maciánhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11729984248822802103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7744427607793615446.post-27667049448480168392008-06-03T15:28:00.012-04:002008-12-10T23:13:54.113-05:00Photographs from Tech. Week (2 of 5)<div align="right"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWefUBsWKI/AAAAAAAAAUs/QX0F4-HG5cI/s1600-h/n1006066_32851673_3766.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207742804912789666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWefUBsWKI/AAAAAAAAAUs/QX0F4-HG5cI/s400/n1006066_32851673_3766.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWegFBKJgI/AAAAAAAAAU0/D-LZ2Zfk2e0/s1600-h/n1006066_32851674_4059.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207742818063885826" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWegFBKJgI/AAAAAAAAAU0/D-LZ2Zfk2e0/s400/n1006066_32851674_4059.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWeSlCTGfI/AAAAAAAAAUE/VeVXTgtuaEA/s1600-h/n1006066_32851689_8714.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207742586140432882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWeSlCTGfI/AAAAAAAAAUE/VeVXTgtuaEA/s400/n1006066_32851689_8714.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWeTR4eK1I/AAAAAAAAAUM/O2zWTJJlLBs/s1600-h/n1006066_32851690_9040.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207742598178810706" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWeTR4eK1I/AAAAAAAAAUM/O2zWTJJlLBs/s400/n1006066_32851690_9040.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWeUKdfnpI/AAAAAAAAAUU/BpWFU-gv_0E/s1600-h/n1006066_32851691_9357.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207742613366480530" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWeUKdfnpI/AAAAAAAAAUU/BpWFU-gv_0E/s400/n1006066_32851691_9357.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWeU2-cf4I/AAAAAAAAAUc/qQuHZeVm-Qw/s1600-h/n1006066_32851692_9678.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207742625315848066" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWeU2-cf4I/AAAAAAAAAUc/qQuHZeVm-Qw/s400/n1006066_32851692_9678.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWeVK7b3dI/AAAAAAAAAUk/cm02M4YUxJI/s1600-h/n1006066_32851666_1200.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207742630671932882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWeVK7b3dI/AAAAAAAAAUk/cm02M4YUxJI/s400/n1006066_32851666_1200.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWdx2cElMI/AAAAAAAAATc/HyFXWCSaJCQ/s1600-h/n1006066_32851667_1506.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207742023876252866" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWdx2cElMI/AAAAAAAAATc/HyFXWCSaJCQ/s400/n1006066_32851667_1506.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWdybeW6ZI/AAAAAAAAATk/oeLCrwOHkUA/s1600-h/n1006066_32851693_9991.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207742033817954706" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWdybeW6ZI/AAAAAAAAATk/oeLCrwOHkUA/s400/n1006066_32851693_9991.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWdyxgYK_I/AAAAAAAAATs/wJmTA3KoAF4/s1600-h/n1006066_32851675_4359.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207742039732005874" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWdyxgYK_I/AAAAAAAAATs/wJmTA3KoAF4/s400/n1006066_32851675_4359.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWdzPNap4I/AAAAAAAAAT0/vH104NpBXOY/s1600-h/n1006066_32851694_311.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207742047705540482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWdzPNap4I/AAAAAAAAAT0/vH104NpBXOY/s400/n1006066_32851694_311.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWdzfOvImI/AAAAAAAAAT8/D6zL64FD1YM/s1600-h/n1006066_32851695_632.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207742052006044258" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWdzfOvImI/AAAAAAAAAT8/D6zL64FD1YM/s400/n1006066_32851695_632.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWdUY3lUCI/AAAAAAAAATM/W5z2hiOOQdo/s1600-h/n1006066_32851650_6576.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207741517722374178" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWdUY3lUCI/AAAAAAAAATM/W5z2hiOOQdo/s400/n1006066_32851650_6576.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWdXaZXijI/AAAAAAAAATU/EhKo-GlluW8/s1600-h/n1006066_32851651_6867.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207741569672120882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWdXaZXijI/AAAAAAAAATU/EhKo-GlluW8/s400/n1006066_32851651_6867.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><p align="right">Photographs by Alana Jacoby (lighting designer)</p>J.E. Maciánhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11729984248822802103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7744427607793615446.post-74357369979092965522008-06-03T15:22:00.006-04:002008-12-10T23:13:56.229-05:00Photographs from Tech. Week (3 of 5)<div align="right"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWbKsg3kbI/AAAAAAAAARE/mblc0A11bdQ/s1600-h/n1006066_32851696_957.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207739152173863346" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWbKsg3kbI/AAAAAAAAARE/mblc0A11bdQ/s400/n1006066_32851696_957.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWbK58HzpI/AAAAAAAAARM/W_jjC6eCL5Q/s1600-h/n1006066_32851697_1275.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207739155777834642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWbK58HzpI/AAAAAAAAARM/W_jjC6eCL5Q/s400/n1006066_32851697_1275.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWbLIeLwkI/AAAAAAAAARU/I7MzwlEKUYw/s1600-h/n1006066_32851698_1593.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207739159678796354" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWbLIeLwkI/AAAAAAAAARU/I7MzwlEKUYw/s400/n1006066_32851698_1593.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWbLWuUqnI/AAAAAAAAARc/Bu7vt0xgjAs/s1600-h/n1006066_32851678_5266.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207739163504585330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWbLWuUqnI/AAAAAAAAARc/Bu7vt0xgjAs/s400/n1006066_32851678_5266.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWbLX8lvMI/AAAAAAAAARk/oD3eyJfUNqg/s1600-h/n1006066_32851653_7411.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207739163832859842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWbLX8lvMI/AAAAAAAAARk/oD3eyJfUNqg/s400/n1006066_32851653_7411.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWarVX_K-I/AAAAAAAAAQc/4SCyz6l08Gw/s1600-h/n1006066_32851699_1915.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207738613386652642" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWarVX_K-I/AAAAAAAAAQc/4SCyz6l08Gw/s400/n1006066_32851699_1915.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWarq0zxlI/AAAAAAAAAQk/7cXWkDq14Y0/s1600-h/n1006066_32851700_2239.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207738619144685138" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWarq0zxlI/AAAAAAAAAQk/7cXWkDq14Y0/s400/n1006066_32851700_2239.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWasNWgbDI/AAAAAAAAAQs/DS0gi4R9bEY/s1600-h/n1006066_32851679_5576.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207738628412828722" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWasNWgbDI/AAAAAAAAAQs/DS0gi4R9bEY/s400/n1006066_32851679_5576.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWas8wnQhI/AAAAAAAAAQ0/yLpUL6C0lGQ/s1600-h/n1006066_32851701_2563.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207738641138795026" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWas8wnQhI/AAAAAAAAAQ0/yLpUL6C0lGQ/s400/n1006066_32851701_2563.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWataSUGgI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/4WmhWj95dKM/s1600-h/n1006066_32851702_2881.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207738649064774146" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWataSUGgI/AAAAAAAAAQ8/4WmhWj95dKM/s400/n1006066_32851702_2881.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><p align="right">Photographs by Alana Jacoby (lighting designer)</p>J.E. Maciánhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11729984248822802103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7744427607793615446.post-63167614141971342722008-06-03T15:16:00.004-04:002008-12-10T23:13:58.487-05:00Photographs from Tech. Week (4 of 5)<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWZm4dWeJI/AAAAAAAAAP0/rS3VdKYp-D0/s1600-h/n1006066_32851654_7721.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207737437393418386" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWZm4dWeJI/AAAAAAAAAP0/rS3VdKYp-D0/s400/n1006066_32851654_7721.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWZn3T9OfI/AAAAAAAAAP8/GO66CzB_HRA/s1600-h/n1006066_32851703_3213.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207737454265448946" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWZn3T9OfI/AAAAAAAAAP8/GO66CzB_HRA/s400/n1006066_32851703_3213.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWZorgFBZI/AAAAAAAAAQE/xxx8o_YFZo0/s1600-h/n1006066_32851655_8003.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207737468274935186" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWZorgFBZI/AAAAAAAAAQE/xxx8o_YFZo0/s400/n1006066_32851655_8003.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWZpbLUcWI/AAAAAAAAAQM/qAMXzL5Z5PU/s1600-h/n1006066_32851656_8290.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207737481072767330" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWZpbLUcWI/AAAAAAAAAQM/qAMXzL5Z5PU/s400/n1006066_32851656_8290.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWZqG3j2ZI/AAAAAAAAAQU/FVq3FHlc8sA/s1600-h/n1006066_32851657_8576.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207737492801051026" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWZqG3j2ZI/AAAAAAAAAQU/FVq3FHlc8sA/s400/n1006066_32851657_8576.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="right"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWZAoT2MeI/AAAAAAAAAPM/x6Jn59ic8Tc/s1600-h/n1006066_32851658_8853.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207736780223558114" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWZAoT2MeI/AAAAAAAAAPM/x6Jn59ic8Tc/s400/n1006066_32851658_8853.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWZAhHRMUI/AAAAAAAAAPU/9CE2YZoryBI/s1600-h/n1006066_32851704_3537.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207736778291753282" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWZAhHRMUI/AAAAAAAAAPU/9CE2YZoryBI/s400/n1006066_32851704_3537.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWZA4j8nJI/AAAAAAAAAPc/OEY42DM7lRA/s1600-h/n1006066_32851659_9146.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207736784586054802" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWZA4j8nJI/AAAAAAAAAPc/OEY42DM7lRA/s400/n1006066_32851659_9146.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWZBF-FtcI/AAAAAAAAAPk/znr36qT7G7A/s1600-h/n1006066_32851705_3861.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207736788185363906" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWZBF-FtcI/AAAAAAAAAPk/znr36qT7G7A/s400/n1006066_32851705_3861.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWZBVlo4II/AAAAAAAAAPs/hA__s44X43A/s1600-h/n1006066_32851660_9424.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207736792377778306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWZBVlo4II/AAAAAAAAAPs/hA__s44X43A/s400/n1006066_32851660_9424.jpg" border="0" /></a>Photographs by Alana Jacoby (lighting designer)<br /><div></div></div>J.E. Maciánhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11729984248822802103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7744427607793615446.post-59569004263012197782008-06-03T15:08:00.005-04:002008-12-10T23:14:00.832-05:00Photographs from Tech. Week (5 of 5)<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWYBdU0_PI/AAAAAAAAAOk/y5e4N9C0IOE/s1600-h/n1006066_32851706_4191.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207735694943124722" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWYBdU0_PI/AAAAAAAAAOk/y5e4N9C0IOE/s400/n1006066_32851706_4191.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWYBzLghCI/AAAAAAAAAOs/t6Cw1eIqOfA/s1600-h/n1006066_32851661_9725.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207735700809614370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWYBzLghCI/AAAAAAAAAOs/t6Cw1eIqOfA/s400/n1006066_32851661_9725.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWYCBsKVhI/AAAAAAAAAO0/CL4GZRScGcc/s1600-h/n1006066_32851662_23.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207735704704669202" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWYCBsKVhI/AAAAAAAAAO0/CL4GZRScGcc/s400/n1006066_32851662_23.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWYCa3d0PI/AAAAAAAAAO8/P5A5rC39_mE/s1600-h/n1006066_32851707_4526.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207735711462969586" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWYCa3d0PI/AAAAAAAAAO8/P5A5rC39_mE/s400/n1006066_32851707_4526.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWYC9Q8Z0I/AAAAAAAAAPE/zugqfjvYr40/s1600-h/n1006066_32851708_4879.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207735720696637250" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWYC9Q8Z0I/AAAAAAAAAPE/zugqfjvYr40/s400/n1006066_32851708_4879.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="right"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWXlguIKVI/AAAAAAAAAN8/kSuBLZYd9N0/s1600-h/n1006066_32851663_322.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207735214818208082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWXlguIKVI/AAAAAAAAAN8/kSuBLZYd9N0/s400/n1006066_32851663_322.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWXlyOsFxI/AAAAAAAAAOE/SHh2HDWHb-U/s1600-h/n1006066_32851664_621.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207735219518183186" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWXlyOsFxI/AAAAAAAAAOE/SHh2HDWHb-U/s400/n1006066_32851664_621.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWXmAQsmeI/AAAAAAAAAOM/I1QUx0adzso/s1600-h/n1006066_32851709_5209.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207735223284701666" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWXmAQsmeI/AAAAAAAAAOM/I1QUx0adzso/s400/n1006066_32851709_5209.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWXmY-gH6I/AAAAAAAAAOU/iRxPeNhs3lw/s1600-h/n1006066_32851665_903.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207735229919272866" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWXmY-gH6I/AAAAAAAAAOU/iRxPeNhs3lw/s400/n1006066_32851665_903.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWXm4xAIsI/AAAAAAAAAOc/sWlmbJdYklw/s1600-h/n1006066_32851677_4963.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5207735238452585154" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SEWXm4xAIsI/AAAAAAAAAOc/sWlmbJdYklw/s400/n1006066_32851677_4963.jpg" border="0" /></a> Photographs by Alana Jacoby (lighting designer)<br /><div></div></div>J.E. Maciánhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11729984248822802103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7744427607793615446.post-41971172835647182982008-05-22T22:48:00.007-04:002008-12-10T23:14:03.739-05:00Publicity Photos<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SDY17X6HLDI/AAAAAAAAANM/tky8pPUs9F4/s1600-h/DSCF1424.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203405713619495986" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SDY17X6HLDI/AAAAAAAAANM/tky8pPUs9F4/s400/DSCF1424.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SDY1s36HK_I/AAAAAAAAAMs/v6Kbw4oOmaU/s1600-h/DSCF1458.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203405464511392754" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SDY1s36HK_I/AAAAAAAAAMs/v6Kbw4oOmaU/s400/DSCF1458.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SDY1tH6HLAI/AAAAAAAAAM0/J7LnzNALp2A/s1600-h/DSCF1475.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203405468806360066" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SDY1tH6HLAI/AAAAAAAAAM0/J7LnzNALp2A/s400/DSCF1475.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SDY1tX6HLBI/AAAAAAAAAM8/MgO3cF6c3Xg/s1600-h/DSCF1480.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203405473101327378" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SDY1tX6HLBI/AAAAAAAAAM8/MgO3cF6c3Xg/s400/DSCF1480.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SDY1t36HLCI/AAAAAAAAANE/q4yBTxTTSyg/s1600-h/DSCF1489.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203405481691261986" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SDY1t36HLCI/AAAAAAAAANE/q4yBTxTTSyg/s400/DSCF1489.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><div align="right"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SDY0mn6HK5I/AAAAAAAAAL8/eqS7Hxo4xM0/s1600-h/DSCF1507.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203404257625582482" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SDY0mn6HK5I/AAAAAAAAAL8/eqS7Hxo4xM0/s400/DSCF1507.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SDY0m36HK6I/AAAAAAAAAME/oPleE6V3img/s1600-h/DSCF1522.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203404261920549794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SDY0m36HK6I/AAAAAAAAAME/oPleE6V3img/s400/DSCF1522.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SDY0nH6HK7I/AAAAAAAAAMM/KyiP_xxSOcQ/s1600-h/DSCF1542.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203404266215517106" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SDY0nH6HK7I/AAAAAAAAAMM/KyiP_xxSOcQ/s400/DSCF1542.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SDY0nX6HK8I/AAAAAAAAAMU/mrwCZ-FWSSM/s1600-h/DSCF1552.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203404270510484418" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SDY0nX6HK8I/AAAAAAAAAMU/mrwCZ-FWSSM/s400/DSCF1552.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SDY0nn6HK9I/AAAAAAAAAMc/SQ_tjTPO-lM/s1600-h/DSCF1561.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5203404274805451730" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/SDY0nn6HK9I/AAAAAAAAAMc/SQ_tjTPO-lM/s400/DSCF1561.JPG" border="0" /></a> Photographs by Paul Rochford</div></div>J.E. Maciánhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11729984248822802103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7744427607793615446.post-53545508135730489122008-04-30T21:50:00.002-04:002008-04-30T21:58:32.173-04:00“The image is a thorn in the eye” – An introduction to watching Hamletmachine (José Enrique Macián)<div align="justify">When asked by an American student to explain <em>Hamletmachine</em>, Heiner Müller responded, “If I know what I want to say, I say it. I don’t have to write it.” This sphinx-like refusal to either accept or give a definitive meaning or explanation is at the heart of <em>Hamletmachine</em>, both as a text and in performance. With this production, we, like Müller, have moved beyond the need for answers and solutions. No singular meaning can be given as explanation. What is of use here is conflict.<br /><br />Rather than tell a story, this production places importance on formal structure, like a work of visual art, to create a landscape of the betrayed revolution and explore the place of theatre as a site of revolutionary change and critical discourse. At this junction, between <em>cruelty</em> and <em>dialectics</em>, the theatre moves beyond drama. The difference between drama (from the Ancient Greek <em>to do</em>) and theatre (literally <em>a place to see</em>) is defined.<br /><br />There is no plot. The linear narrative of psychological realism is defied. The reality/cliché of the everyday is made strange in order to be seen anew onstage. The <em>slice of life</em> is replaced by the trauma of existence. No attempt at a representative/mimetic copy of the outside world is made. The stage creates its own reality.<br /><br />The question then is asked – without a unified plot or coherent characters, what is the spectator’s relationship to this complex performance of collage, of colliding, contradictory fragments? The spectator’s task is to unravel the intertwined layers of theatrical elements: gesture, speech, stillness, lighting, projection, set, costume, music, etc. How do these elements work together? When do they work against one another? In the words of Marlene Dietrich, when does the face say something different than the voice?<br /><br />Müller once stated that, “I don’t think that a play can be good unless you burn all your intentions during the writing process.” And in the process of staging/resisting Müller, the act of directing is akin to the authorship of playwriting. The creation of meaning rests in the minds of the spectator. The demand on the audience is to make its own meaning, independent upon, yet inevitably informed by our decisions during rehearsals, reordering the explosion of images, allusions, and associations created in performance.</div>J.E. Maciánhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11729984248822802103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7744427607793615446.post-60796973434277650842008-04-30T21:47:00.001-04:002008-04-30T21:58:42.166-04:00Textmachine – A dramaturgical note (Katrin Dettmer)<div align="justify">The text of <em>Die Hamletmaschine</em> is only about nine pages long. This brevity is both blessing and curse, stepping stone and pitfall, starting point and cul-de-sac for any production taking on this piece and trying to make an evening out of it. The text is most certainly dense enough to fill hours in repetition without ever reaching a satisfactory result. For as much as Müller’s language draws the audience in, the text itself is resilient and obscures meaning within its own context. But this is no cause for headaches.<br /><br />Heiner Müller once stated, “What often bores me in the productions is that the directors simply illustrate what is already in the text, instead of using it as association material, as a kind of supernovae, which inspires directors with ideas.” What is already in Müller’s text is a conglomerate of associations, quotes, and commentary – a textmachine in its own right, which processes literature, history, autobiography, theory, slapstick, politics, terrorism, sexuality, ethics. Et cetera. The textmachine deconstructs texts, assembles them again, checks on their credibility, makes fun of them<br /><br />The text of our production takes its cues from Müller’s text; it pursues Shakespeare and his cultural heritage, following up quotes and penetrating deeper into the Shakespearian context. Other texts by other authors are also traced. Other histories are scrutinized. Other stories told. But this textmachine of ours is also at work when nothing in fact is spoken. It works in silence as well as in noise. It is always operating. This text is not only comprised of words but also of the movement on the stage, of light and of projection, of sound and music, of emptiness. What is not in the text is just as important. Some texts cannot be uttered, others are not allowed to make themselves heard. But their lack is always present – and an invitation to start up new textmachines.<br /><br />This is the pleasure of Müller’s text that also pierces this production: the moment when body and mind are pursuing their own ideas, independent from the mise en scène, the moment of art and rebellion. In Juni 1807, Heinrich von Kleist wrote to his cousin Marie von Kleist, “it is invention everywhere, which amounts to a work of art. For not that, which is presented to the mind, but that, which the mind stimulated by this presentation thinks, is the work of art.”</div>J.E. Maciánhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11729984248822802103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7744427607793615446.post-85540043586796933572008-03-23T13:30:00.004-04:002008-12-10T23:14:07.614-05:00The Final Day of Production<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUnYfLuMI/AAAAAAAAALY/9DBHDSOUxKg/s1600-h/n1232400113_30459143_6508.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180991825645385922" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUnYfLuMI/AAAAAAAAALY/9DBHDSOUxKg/s400/n1232400113_30459143_6508.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUnofLuNI/AAAAAAAAALg/9CjevjTFpzA/s1600-h/n1232400113_30459146_7238.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180991829940353234" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUnofLuNI/AAAAAAAAALg/9CjevjTFpzA/s400/n1232400113_30459146_7238.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUn4fLuOI/AAAAAAAAALo/UVjdEG5JkRs/s1600-h/n1232400113_30459149_7964.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180991834235320546" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUn4fLuOI/AAAAAAAAALo/UVjdEG5JkRs/s400/n1232400113_30459149_7964.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUZYfLuHI/AAAAAAAAAKw/OlKMNRVGckk/s1600-h/n1232400113_30459152_8654.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180991585127217266" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUZYfLuHI/AAAAAAAAAKw/OlKMNRVGckk/s400/n1232400113_30459152_8654.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUZ4fLuII/AAAAAAAAAK4/KkUY36u0s7Y/s1600-h/n1232400113_30459154_9151.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180991593717151874" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUZ4fLuII/AAAAAAAAAK4/KkUY36u0s7Y/s400/n1232400113_30459154_9151.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUZ4fLuJI/AAAAAAAAALA/QkYQWkW3QUI/s1600-h/n1232400113_30459157_9878.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180991593717151890" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUZ4fLuJI/AAAAAAAAALA/QkYQWkW3QUI/s400/n1232400113_30459157_9878.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUaYfLuKI/AAAAAAAAALI/OBVN_H3Zt6s/s1600-h/n1232400113_30459159_384.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180991602307086498" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUaYfLuKI/AAAAAAAAALI/OBVN_H3Zt6s/s400/n1232400113_30459159_384.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUaYfLuLI/AAAAAAAAALQ/wJMqrQMZ6ZY/s1600-h/n1232400113_30459160_615.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180991602307086514" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUaYfLuLI/AAAAAAAAALQ/wJMqrQMZ6ZY/s400/n1232400113_30459160_615.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div align="right"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUDofLuCI/AAAAAAAAAKI/uVfeic0k89s/s1600-h/n1232400113_30459163_1327.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180991211465062434" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUDofLuCI/AAAAAAAAAKI/uVfeic0k89s/s400/n1232400113_30459163_1327.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUD4fLuDI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/c7wFnd62tnU/s1600-h/n1232400113_30459166_2077.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180991215760029746" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUD4fLuDI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/c7wFnd62tnU/s400/n1232400113_30459166_2077.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUEIfLuEI/AAAAAAAAAKY/S0xaqpWtdF4/s1600-h/n1232400113_30459168_2570.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180991220054997058" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUEIfLuEI/AAAAAAAAAKY/S0xaqpWtdF4/s400/n1232400113_30459168_2570.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUEYfLuFI/AAAAAAAAAKg/YrKFA9vXwKY/s1600-h/n1232400113_30459169_2809.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180991224349964370" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUEYfLuFI/AAAAAAAAAKg/YrKFA9vXwKY/s400/n1232400113_30459169_2809.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUEYfLuGI/AAAAAAAAAKo/fx6hRFEdLUU/s1600-h/n1232400113_30459170_3057.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180991224349964386" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aUEYfLuGI/AAAAAAAAAKo/fx6hRFEdLUU/s400/n1232400113_30459170_3057.jpg" border="0" /></a> Photographs by James Anglin Flynn (stage manager)</div></div>J.E. Maciánhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11729984248822802103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7744427607793615446.post-65530490102021143482008-03-23T13:18:00.008-04:002008-12-10T23:14:10.175-05:00Photographs from a rehearsal<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRtIfLt9I/AAAAAAAAAJg/r9QPuOCSFEI/s1600-h/n1080703237_23297_1241.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180988625894750162" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRtIfLt9I/AAAAAAAAAJg/r9QPuOCSFEI/s400/n1080703237_23297_1241.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRtofLt-I/AAAAAAAAAJo/nD1-hhKn1Vc/s1600-h/n1080703237_23300_3254.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180988634484684770" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRtofLt-I/AAAAAAAAAJo/nD1-hhKn1Vc/s400/n1080703237_23300_3254.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRt4fLt_I/AAAAAAAAAJw/ujrumBT8jZ0/s1600-h/n1080703237_23304_9254.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180988638779652082" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRt4fLt_I/AAAAAAAAAJw/ujrumBT8jZ0/s400/n1080703237_23304_9254.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRt4fLuAI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/F0QZCQEifH8/s1600-h/n1080703237_23305_9924.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180988638779652098" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRt4fLuAI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/F0QZCQEifH8/s400/n1080703237_23305_9924.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRuIfLuBI/AAAAAAAAAKA/S2BI9SsAuSU/s1600-h/n1080703237_23316_2615.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180988643074619410" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRuIfLuBI/AAAAAAAAAKA/S2BI9SsAuSU/s400/n1080703237_23316_2615.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRTYfLt5I/AAAAAAAAAJA/Eh9ATlMONlE/s1600-h/n1080703237_23320_3581.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180988183513118610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRTYfLt5I/AAAAAAAAAJA/Eh9ATlMONlE/s400/n1080703237_23320_3581.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRTofLt6I/AAAAAAAAAJI/OsX5idyPbtU/s1600-h/n1080703237_23324_4555.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180988187808085922" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRTofLt6I/AAAAAAAAAJI/OsX5idyPbtU/s400/n1080703237_23324_4555.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRT4fLt7I/AAAAAAAAAJQ/_F8rYpnysKY/s1600-h/n1080703237_23330_6047.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180988192103053234" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRT4fLt7I/AAAAAAAAAJQ/_F8rYpnysKY/s400/n1080703237_23330_6047.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRUYfLt8I/AAAAAAAAAJY/rIQSxajobcI/s1600-h/n1080703237_23335_7305.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180988200692987842" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRUYfLt8I/AAAAAAAAAJY/rIQSxajobcI/s400/n1080703237_23335_7305.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div align="right"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRGYfLt1I/AAAAAAAAAIg/Kjh49j2e3n4/s1600-h/n1080703237_23342_9097.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180987960174819154" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRGYfLt1I/AAAAAAAAAIg/Kjh49j2e3n4/s400/n1080703237_23342_9097.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRGofLt2I/AAAAAAAAAIo/__dbwZ5izpg/s1600-h/n1080703237_23343_9352.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180987964469786466" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRGofLt2I/AAAAAAAAAIo/__dbwZ5izpg/s400/n1080703237_23343_9352.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRG4fLt3I/AAAAAAAAAIw/ukXGyvBXyl8/s1600-h/n1080703237_23347_397.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180987968764753778" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRG4fLt3I/AAAAAAAAAIw/ukXGyvBXyl8/s400/n1080703237_23347_397.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRHIfLt4I/AAAAAAAAAI4/eToexJrwSus/s1600-h/n1080703237_23356_2833.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180987973059721090" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aRHIfLt4I/AAAAAAAAAI4/eToexJrwSus/s400/n1080703237_23356_2833.jpg" border="0" /></a> Photographs by Katrin Dettmer (dramaturg)</div></div>J.E. Maciánhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11729984248822802103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7744427607793615446.post-50734125570696016632008-03-23T13:12:00.008-04:002008-12-10T23:14:10.664-05:00Photographs from a rehearsal<div align="right"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aQnofLtyI/AAAAAAAAAII/2EsDnoHuR1g/s1600-h/n1080703237_17264_4930.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180987431893841698" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aQnofLtyI/AAAAAAAAAII/2EsDnoHuR1g/s400/n1080703237_17264_4930.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aQn4fLtzI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/096hd7_6gs8/s1600-h/n1080703237_17272_8019.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180987436188809010" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aQn4fLtzI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/096hd7_6gs8/s400/n1080703237_17272_8019.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aQoIfLt0I/AAAAAAAAAIY/Tx7h5WqVJTE/s1600-h/n1080703237_17277_3660.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5180987440483776322" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R-aQoIfLt0I/AAAAAAAAAIY/Tx7h5WqVJTE/s400/n1080703237_17277_3660.jpg" border="0" /></a> Photographs by Katrin Dettmer (dramaturg) </div>J.E. Maciánhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11729984248822802103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7744427607793615446.post-86828088064668366362008-02-22T08:35:00.003-05:002008-02-22T08:41:35.111-05:00Hamletmachine Review from the Brown Daily Herald:<p align="justify">A man stalks the stage with a sword. A woman delivers a passionate monologue on feminism and male inadequacy. Another woman reaches down a man's pants while enthusiastically recounting the exploits of the Baader-Meinhof Gang, a 1970s West German terrorist group. </p><p align="justify">Jose Macian's '08 production of Heiner Mueller's "Hamletmachine" opened last night at Leeds Theater, where it will run through Sunday. It is a jarring and intense show, with layers of meaning and allusion grafted onto the skeleton of William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" in 90 minutes of fractured scenes.</p><p align="justify">"Hamletmachine," a 1977 play by the East German playwright Mueller, is this year's Senior Director's Showcase production - the slot at Brown's mainstage theater reserved each academic year for a graduating senior in the Department of Theatre, Speech and Dance. Last February, Macian proposed directing "Hamletmachine," and later that spring the department's faculty and staff chose him for the senior slot.</p><p align="justify">"I've been living and breathing Heiner Mueller for the last year," Macian said.</p><p align="justify">Last summer, Macian traveled to Berlin's Akademie der Kunste to research Mueller's original staging of the play and to take in rehearsals for a production of the show at the Deutsches Theater.</p><p align="justify">He also decided that the two existing English translations of the play wouldn't work, and so last fall re-translated the script with Katrin Dettmer GS, a native German speaker and the production's dramaturg. The result, Macian said, is "a translation that is on one hand poetic and on the other hand faithful to Heiner Mueller."</p><p align="justify">"Hamletmachine" has no traditional plot or set roles - Macian said he had to modify the script to accommodate the cast of six (Tamara Del Rosso '08.5, Hollis Mickey '10, Max Posner '11, Charly Simpson '08, Evan Smith '10 and Sam Yambrovich '11). The characters of Hamlet and Ophelia survive from Shakespeare's story, as do allusions to other characters and the plot. But new layers of meaning and allusion were crafted by Mueller and added to by Macian, and the play tackles social collapse, gender and feminism, New Left terrorism in Europe and U.S. cultural influence.</p><p align="justify">"Heiner Mueller believed that, the more layering, the more possibilities for meaning you could have," Macian said. The play is at least in part about "the uncertainty of transitions and how to survive that transition," Macian said, but he was hesitant to sum it up so neatly. "I don't want people to come and say, 'This is a play about this,' " he said. "It's a play about so many different things."</p><p align="justify">At Wednesday's dress rehearsal, on a set of crumbling concrete and metal pipes, the six actors moved spasmodically, microphones taped to their cheeks with electrical tape as they delivered monologues. They robotically served cupcakes to the front row of seats and echoed one another's lines in both English and German. The soundscape - a mix including mechanical noises, stage directions in German and classical music - added to the disconcerting, decaying atmosphere, as did projections onto faux-cement blocks.</p><p align="justify">All six actors gave skilled, intense, almost frightening performances. Especially memorable was Simpson's impassioned speech about the "limp prick" being the ultimate weapon in the battle of the sexes and a scene when Del Rosso - clad in a red jumpsuit - led most of the cast in dancing to a remix of Britney Spears' "Oops! … I Did It Again."</p><p align="justify">"This is an American production of a play that is quite Germanic," Macian said. Mueller included references to U.S. and Western culture in his original script, and "we've reveled in that," Macian noted.</p><p align="justify">Mueller's script channels "Hamlet" through the decay of the Eastern Bloc, and towards the end of the show, the play itself crumbles, with actors breaking character and directly addressing the audience. A double-sided photo of Mueller and Macian is ripped apart, the script is scattered into the air and Yambrovich storms off stage, declaring, "This play is ridiculous."</p><p align="justify">Macian said he was initially worried that the play might prove inaccessible to audiences. But, he said, the production's openness - Friday rehearsals were open to the public - helped reassure him. People who came to see rehearsals said it was "a complete theater experience," Macian said.</p><p align="justify">"If people can go away with the essence of 'Hamletmachine' and can go away connecting it to something in their own lives, then I've succeeded," he said.</p><p align="justify">"Hamletmachine" is playing this weekend at Leeds Theater. There will be 8 p.m. showings tonight and Saturday, and a 2 p.m. performance on Sunday. All performances are sold out, but some house seats will be available at the door each night. Tickets are $7 for students, $17 for general admission and $12 for faculty, staff and senior citizens. </p><p align="justify">- Ben Leubsdorf (Brown Daily Herald)</p>J.E. Maciánhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11729984248822802103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7744427607793615446.post-19698963864993566172008-02-19T17:12:00.006-05:002008-02-19T17:14:25.948-05:00Photographs from Hamletmachine rehearsal<a href="http://www.americanphotopro.info/slideshows/Hamletmachine/">www.americanphotopro.info/slideshows/Hamletmachine/</a><br />Photographs by Jeff Barnes.J.E. Maciánhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11729984248822802103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7744427607793615446.post-8981079999455067022008-01-27T23:43:00.001-05:002008-07-30T14:31:38.507-04:00Interview between Selena Brown and director José E. Macián<div align="justify"><strong>1. What drew you to <em>Hamletmachine</em>?<br /></strong><br />My interest in <em>Hamletmachine</em> is two-fold. First, I am drawn to the play as a timely representation of the world around us. Müller retells the story of Shakespeare’s uncertain Hamlet, one of the mythologies of our culture, on the ruined shores of Western civilization beset by terrorism. In addition, Müller allows for a multiplicity of performance possibilities within this compact yet open text. The manner of performing Hamletmachine<em> </em>resides with its director, performers, and designers, rather than solely in Müller’s script.<br /><br /><strong>2. I read your translation and I enjoyed the subtle differences between yours and the Carl Weber version; tell me about the translation process. Was it your first time? What kind of work went into the project? What was the collaboration process like with Katrin Dettmer?</strong><br /><br />Two different published translations exist of <em>Hamletmachine</em>: one by Carl Weber, the other by Marc von Henning. They both have their own strengths and weaknesses. However, when presented with this project, my dramaturg Katrin Dettmer and I thought that a new translation was needed for this performance by young American actors. In our translation from the German, we strove to write in an English that was neither awkward nor that lost the power of Müller’s language in an attempt to be colloquial. Katrin was wonderful to work with. As a Berliner, she was able to provide her knowledge of the many nuances of the German language, while I provided my knowledge of playwriting. This new translation is both precise and poetic. I would like to think that Müller would have approved.<br /><br /><strong>3. Have you seen other productions of <em>Hamletmachine</em>? How is your vision influenced by previously produced versions? Where do you make your departures?</strong><br /><br />Yes, I have seen three other productions of <em>Hamletmachine</em>. Four years ago, I first saw filmed documentation of Robert Wilson’s 1986 production from Hamburg’s Thalia Theater with young West German actors. Then this past summer, I spent two months at Berlin’s exhaustive theatre archives at the Akademie der Künste. There I watched film documentation of performances and rehearsals for Müller’s own production at East Berlin’s Deutsches Theater, which premiered after the fall of the Wall in 1990. Most recently, I was invited to attend Dimiter Gotscheff’s rehearsals for the newest production of <em>Hamletmachine</em> at the aforementioned Deutsches Theater; this performance premiered in the fall of 2007. These productions, along with the Einstürzende Neubauten radio play version and Wolfgang Rihm’s opera, show the many effective ways of directing this play. In my own production, I have occasionally quoted these past performances but the structure is different. For one, I have included other outside texts by Müller, Shakespeare, and others in order to comment on and resist the original <em>Hamletmachine </em>text. Also, Müller once stated in 1986 “if you don’t come to grips with <em>Hamletmachine</em> as a comedy, you won’t make anything out of this play.” While other productions have been ironic, I think this performance has reached the often-overlooked humor of Müller’s work with a mixture of both the bitterly comic existing alongside the brutality of contemporary life.<br /><br /><strong>4. What excites you most about directing this play?</strong><br /><br />The excitement of directing <em>Hamletmachine</em> lies in a text that resists the possibility of performance, where theatrical elements are in conflict with one another, and the senses of the audience are bombarded with information. For the majority of those working on this production, <em>Hamletmachine</em> is the first time they are encountering a theatre piece that unbalances the ideas of drama, a narrative with conflict and resolution, etc. This venture into the new is exciting.<br /><br /></div><div align="right">(January 27, 2008)</div>J.E. Maciánhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11729984248822802103noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7744427607793615446.post-72132089017449807992008-01-27T23:33:00.003-05:002008-12-10T23:14:13.021-05:00Photographs from rehearsals<div align="right"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R51dGs_ymCI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/ylj-DLlBvBQ/s1600-h/n1232400113_30439552_4836.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5160383117775771682" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R51dGs_ymCI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/ylj-DLlBvBQ/s400/n1232400113_30439552_4836.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R51dG8_ymDI/AAAAAAAAAGY/1a7EfCz0Qqc/s1600-h/n1232400113_30439554_5279.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5160383122070738994" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R51dG8_ymDI/AAAAAAAAAGY/1a7EfCz0Qqc/s400/n1232400113_30439554_5279.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R51dHM_ymEI/AAAAAAAAAGg/BOwc7OueYsw/s1600-h/n1232400113_30439558_6192.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5160383126365706306" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R51dHM_ymEI/AAAAAAAAAGg/BOwc7OueYsw/s400/n1232400113_30439558_6192.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R51dHM_ymFI/AAAAAAAAAGo/VV9jlBRQEtY/s1600-h/n1232400113_30439559_6424.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5160383126365706322" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R51dHM_ymFI/AAAAAAAAAGo/VV9jlBRQEtY/s400/n1232400113_30439559_6424.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R51dHc_ymGI/AAAAAAAAAGw/9yT47K8jnrg/s1600-h/n1232400113_30439565_7843.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5160383130660673634" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R51dHc_ymGI/AAAAAAAAAGw/9yT47K8jnrg/s400/n1232400113_30439565_7843.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R51c-c_ymAI/AAAAAAAAAGA/6tsqd_Osf2M/s1600-h/n1232400113_30439566_8086.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5160382976041850882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R51c-c_ymAI/AAAAAAAAAGA/6tsqd_Osf2M/s400/n1232400113_30439566_8086.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R51c-s_ymBI/AAAAAAAAAGI/iIFN_p5WiAA/s1600-h/n1232400113_30439589_3656.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5160382980336818194" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9qYjszHYs8A/R51c-s_ymBI/AAAAAAAAAGI/iIFN_p5WiAA/s400/n1232400113_30439589_3656.jpg" border="0" /></a></div><p align="right">Photographs by James Anglin Flynn (stage manager)</p>J.E. Maciánhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11729984248822802103noreply@blogger.com0